h.o.m.e. history

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“Many things occur to people when they see H.O.M.E.When you see that complex on Route One, it's
large and impressive.But you need to
remember that it was built by people who had no professional credentials, who
were often too young, or too old, or too unskilled.Many people studying it have said that to run
it you need professionals.A famous
management consultant studied us once for several days and, at the end, he said
his experience proved we couldn't exist--that if the government or a
philanthropy ran H.O.M.E. it would cost millions of dollars.

"But H.O.M.E. hasn't grown that way. It has
grown out of needs that people have had and that other people have seen and
said, ‘Let's do something about it.’ …
That seems to have worked, and that seems
to be what we ought to do:respond to
people.”

— Lucy Poulin, H.O.M.E.'s founder

Reprinted from THIS TIME, the H.O.M.E. newsletter, 1988

H.O.M.E. started as a crafters' cooperative in 1970.Since then it has expanded in many directions
to address the unmet needs of low-income rural Mainers, but, nearly forty years
later, the craft store and the craft workshops remain as perhaps the most
visible public face of H.O.M.E.

At the blinking yellow light atop a hill on Route One, a few
miles east of Bucksport, two signs draw the attention of passing tourists and
other motorists en route to Bar Harbor and other points in the
"Downeast" region of coastal Maine:"Handcrafts at H.O.M.E." and
"Welcome, H.O.M.E. Co-Op."

Today H.O.M.E. has artisans in residence who work in various
media:pottery, stained glass,
leathercraft, woodworking, weaving, and fabric.Their goods are sold in the H.O.M.E. craftstore along with a wide
variety of items made by other Maine
crafters, who offer their work through H.O.M.E on a consignment basis.They continue in the tradition of the
original crafters who came together under the leadership of Lucy Poulin to form
"Homeworkers Organized for More Employment" -- H.O.M.E.

1970:Begin at the Beginning

In 1970, there were still a number
of federal programs in place to help low-income people. These programs had been
initiated in President Lyndon Johnson's administration (1963-1968) as part of
his "War on Poverty," and the "Great Society". The Office of Economic Opportunity had created
a vast bureaucracy which ate up tax dollars in staffing and administration
costs with few real dollars left over to deliver the promised jobs, training,
education and community programs.

Many Mainers, in the independent
Yankee tradition, preferred to live from the work of their own hands, and many
of these were women working out of their homes, stitching for the shoe
manufacturers. This saved the shoe companies money, since they were not
required to pay the homeworkers benefits, and it also allowed the women to save
on transportation and childcare costs. Among those employed as homeworkers by
the shoe industry were also the Carmelite sisters in a small hermitage then
located in Orland, including Sister Lucy Poulin.

But the lack of protective tariffs
hurt the shoe industry greatly.To cut
costs, the first workers let go were the homeworkers. So they were desperate
for a means to replace their lost income.
Lucy recalls:

“I remember answering the doorbell… and a
woman coming in and asking me if I could help her sell her quilts.Her name was Mrs. Arsenault… Out of Mrs.
Arsenault’s question about selling quilts we arranged a meeting at the PublicSafetyBuilding in Bucksport.
Quite a large group showed up, about 35 people, that’s how we began –
selling crafts.

"After the meeting we got a little farm on
Route One – first we rented it, then, eventually, we bought it.It was the old Dorr Farm. The Dorrs were an
old Maine
family, very good people.They sold us
their farm with 23 acres.We originally
used the farm house for everything—sales, retail, offices, inventory.We were really cramped!

"It was a success from the start and as we
sold crafts, more people brought more crafts to sell.At that time, in 1970, there weren’t many
outlets for Maine-made crafts using the old skills, the cottage industries that
had been handed down from mother to daughter, from father to son.So when H.O.M.E. first began, it was one of
the first attempts to help people earn their living in their homes doing crafts
that had been a part of their family history.”

Mr. and Mrs. Merrill Ames, the first
proprietors of
the H.O.M.E. craft store
in the Dorr House, were known
to the community as
"Captain Ames" and "Mother Ames."

The original Dorr House with an addition.The small "barn" under
construction in 1972
now houses the leather shop
and the stained glass studio.

Closeup of barn construction

Youth group stands in front of the
southwest corner of the Dorr House,
now the Men's Shelter

The photos above are reprinted from the
first two issues of the H.O.M.E. newsletter, then called THE H.O.M.E.
CO-OP NEWS (1972.)

1978: Covenant Community Land Trust

The
Covenant Community Land Trust was started by H.O.M.E. in 1978. A land
trust is an alternative way of providing homes for homeless and
low-income families. It is an organization created to hold the land
in perpetuity, not as public or private property, but in trust, thus
removing it from market forces. Together the houses are built by
volunteers, H.O.M.E. staff and the future homeowners. The houses are
then purchased by families or individuals.

1987: Emmaus InternationalAt
the Annual Meeting in 1987, the general membership of H.O.M.E. voted
to become members of the International Emmaus
Movement, and in October of that year, Emmaus delegates from 27
countries met in executive session fro a week at H.O.M.E. From its
founding in Paris in 1947 by Abbe Pierre, Emmaus has grown worldwide
into a movement
for social and economic justice, with communities in Europe, Africa,
India, and Central and South America.
H.O.M.E. in Orland, and the St.
Francis Community in East Orland, are the only communities in North
America.

San
Juan Comalapa, Guatemala is the home of H.O.M.E.’s sister
community. During the Guatemalan Civil War, refugees among the
Cakchiquel Maya, indigenous people were displaced in large numbers.
A number of those people reached Maine and eventually reached
H.O.M.E. \
When
violence subsided and they returned to their homeland, they took with
them the goal of starting an Emmaus community there. Now this goal is
closer to a reality.
With H.O.M.E.'s help land was purchased, and in
2002 the roof of a four room building was finished to house Emmaus,
Guatemala medical
clinic, weaving outlet, and second hand store, as well as a shelter.
H.O.M.E.
provides ongoing support to the Comalapa community, by direct aid,
selling their weavings in the Craft Store and by sponsoring annual exchange
missions. Today this relationship is alive more than ever.

2017: Sr. Lucy retires as Executive Director

Sr. Lucy in her office

It is with great confidence that Sister Lucy Poulin, founder and leader of
HOME Inc since 1970, announces her transition into retirement. Lucy will
continue to have a daily presence at HOME and looks forward to working
with HOME's Board and staff during the transition. Long time employee
and current assistant director, Tracey Hair, has stepped into the role of
executive director. Tracey brings more than a decade of experience
working at HOME. Joining Tracey, is the newly formed
Management Team which consists of assistant director, Rosa Moore
and Bookkeeping Supervisor, Mary Mahan.